PF PUSHES FOR THE ENACTMENT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION LAW
3rd May, 2022
The Patriotic Front (PF) joins the rest of the world in commemorating and celebrating World Press Freedom Day. 3rd May acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. This day is also meant to remind governments of the need for the enactment of necessary media laws to guarantee freedom of the press and press freedom. Today is also a day to pay particular tribute to journalists that have died in their line of duty in a quest to expose the truth and bring to light the real condition of the people.
The 2022 theme for the day is “Journalism Under Digital Siege”. The theme is intended to highlight the multiple ways in which surveillance and digitally mediated attacks endanger journalists and journalism.
The Patriotic Front has been an ardent believer and a strong defender of press freedom and freedom of the press. Through out its existence, the Party has worked closely with the media to ensure that journalists and media houses have the necessary support to execute their duties without fear of repression.
As we commemorate 3rd May, we wish to bring to the attention of Government and all relevant stakeholders the following issues:
1. THE ENACTMENT OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL
As an ardent believer and strong defender of media freedoms, the Patriotic Front stands ready to support the enactment of the long-awaited Access to Information Bill.
A lot of research and consultation has been done on this Bill and we beseech the UPND Government not to renege on their promise to enact this piece of legislation. There should be no further delays as this Bill has extensively been discussed and debated of the years.
The Access to Information Law is not for the benefit of the media alone but it is for the benefit of the entire nation as this will enhance transparency and accountability on the part of those who have been interested with the mandate to govern our country. Further, it will enhance democracy and good governance as it equips citizens with the vital information that’s necessary for them to make informed decisions.
2. SCRAP OFF VALUE ADDED TAX (VAT) ON PRINT MEDIA
The UPND Government introduced a 16% Value Added Tax(VAT)on Booklets and Newspapers effective January 1, 2022.
This measure is stumbling block to the growth and sustainability of the media as it is making the business of running a print media extra costly at a time when the print media is facing tremendous pressure from online platforms that carry news on the go. Most people are getting their news through social media making it very difficult for the print media to thrive because the time most of their stories are out, the following day, social media has already scooped them, rendering such stories stale.
With the continued rise in the cost of doing business, most print media houses are finding it hard to meet their daily running costs. We therefore call upon the UPND Government to scrap off VAT on the print media in order to reduce the cost of running these organisations and save jobs for our youths who are mainly the employees in such organisations.
3. RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM
While we defend the right of journalists and the media to report news we strongly believe that the media has the responsibility to report truth and not spread propaganda. As the fourth pillar of democracy and governance, the media carries a heavy burden to ensure that their reporting is factual, balanced and devoid of malice or propaganda. The media owes it to the people to report the truth and not malign innocent citizens through lies, malice and propaganda.
We therefore call upon all journalists and media houses to desist from yellow journalism and all forms of malice and propaganda and to ensure that they execute their duties in conformity with their professional ethics and media etiquettes.
With the advent of social media, lies and propaganda have become a way of reporting. Social media news feeds make spreading lies easier. A 2019 Reuters Report stated that 61% of Irish media consumers are concerned about what is real and what is fake on the internet. This is a worldwide phenomenon. Social media is far reaching, meaning these lies can spread globally at supersonic speed and the damage caused to innocent lives, reputations and careers of people can be irreparable.
We therefore reiterate that our media must endeavour to carry themselves in a responsible manner to protect the peace and safeguard the unity of our nation.
On the other hand, we wish to caution the Government to desist from the temptation of using the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act as a tool to muzzle, intimidate and silence opposing voices; that is not the intention and the spirit of this Act, thus it should not be abused by politicians to perpetuate wrong doing and stifle freedom of speech.
4. PLIGHT OF THE MEDIA AND THE NEED FOR SPECIALISED TRAINING
It is an open secret that the salaries and conditions of service for many of our scribes especially those in the private media are not very favourable. Secondly, it is evident that many media houses and journalists lack investigative tools and are not adequately trained in specialised fields such as Finance, Legal, Economics etc hence a lot of commentary and reporting by some media houses and journalists lack depth and understanding with regards to such particular issues.
There is therefore an urgent need for all media houses to invest in specialised training of their journalists as well as to address the unfavourable working conditions of their journalists to enhance the quality of reporting and avert bias and probable corruption.
Happy Press Freedom Day.
Issued by
Nickson Chilangwa, MP, MCC, AIH
Acting Secretary